Northern Ireland ice warning issued as travel disruption expected

A new weather warning for ice has been issued for parts of Northern Ireland.

The Met Office's new yellow alert will come into force from 4pm today, January 9, and will be in place until 10am tomorrow, January 10. The warning is in place for Co Antrim, Co Down, Co Derry, and Co Tyrone.

The weather forecaster said scattered wintry showers may "lead to some icy patches and travel disruption" throughout the evening and into tomorrow morning with a low temperature of -5 forecast.

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They added: "Scattered wintry showers on Thursday evening will slowly fade overnight, leading to the risk of icy patches on untreated surfaces as temperatures fall below freezing. Isolated snow accumulations of 2-4 cm will be possible, more especially in Wales on hills above 150m elevation."

As for what should be expected during the latest weather warning, the Met Office advised:

It comes as a previously issued warning for snow and ice ended at 11am, and a further warning for freezing fog ended at 9am. A number of schools across Northern Ireland are closed today due to adverse weather conditions.

As for what can be expected for the coming days and throughout the weekend, Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster, Christoph Almond, said: “Thursday will see another cold night, with potentially the lowest temperatures of the Winter so far, -15°C - possibly -16°C is likely in locations with lying snow in Scotland or northern England.

“In the early hours of Friday, a front arriving from the west will encounter the cold air in place over the UK. This could bring further sleet or snowfall for some regions in the south and west, as well as a risk of ice for a time as it moves north-eastwards into central parts, but the extent of this is still uncertain.”

“By Sunday, milder air will have moved in across much of the UK, meaning rain is more likely than snow as we get to the end of the weekend. Northern Ireland and Western Scotland are most likely to see some showery outbreaks of rain and breezy conditions through Sunday and Monday, with conditions further south and east drier and more settled, but with some overnight fog and frost.”

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